Pinboard (guardiantech)

Time travel in movies >> Mr. Dalliard

guardiantech — 2013-04-15T20:33:33+00:00

A logic chart of many of your favourite time travel movies (and a few you might not have considered) in case you need to figure out whether they conform to the Novikov self-consistency principle, and other questions.

Before VFX >> Tumblr

guardiantech — 2013-02-27T10:33:38+00:00

How the films look before the digital graphics artists work their magic.

How technology is changing the movie theatre business >> IHS iSuppli

guardiantech — 2012-11-29T22:07:46+00:00

Along with the shift in film format, the increasing use of digital cinema equipment has resulted in plunging demand for 35mm prints. At its peak, film distribution used approximately 13bn feet of film a year — equivalent to a trip to the moon and back five times. That amount began to decline sharply in 2010, and the industry this year will use closer to 4 or 5bn feet for distribution purposes.
Also contributing to declining demand for 35mm prints is the rising cost of silver, a key material for film processing. The price of silver has climbed from a stable $5 an ounce for almost two decades to around $25 an ounce in 2012, even hitting a high of $50 at one point.

All-time US box office takings by film, adjusted for ticket price inflation >> Box Office Mojo

guardiantech — 2012-06-06T22:17:52+00:00

OK, it's not tech, but it's fascinating to see how good stories tend to win here. See if you can guess which is top before you click. (Hint: it's not Titanic.)

Why do all movie tickets Cost the same? >> The Atlantic

guardiantech — 2012-01-04T22:46:54+00:00

"Like tens of millions of Americans, I have paid money to see Mission: Impossible, which made $130 million in the last two weeks, and I have not paid any money to see Young Adult, which has made less than $10 million over the same span. Nobody is surprised or impressed by the discrepancy. The real question is: If demand is supposed to move prices, why isn't seeing Young Adult much cheaper than seeing Mission: Impossible?"

We seem to remember Stelios trying to use his "book early" system for cinemas and being completely frozen out a couple of years ago.

Movie crowds dip to 16-year low as apathy lingers >> Salon.com

guardiantech — 2012-01-02T21:56:27+00:00

"Through New Year’s Eve on Saturday, projected domestic revenues for the year stand at $10.2bn, down 3.5% from 2010′s, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. Taking higher ticket prices into account, movie attendance is off even more, with an estimated 1.28bn tickets sold, a 4.4% decline and the smallest movie audience since 1995, when admissions totaled 1.26bn."

Misuse of 3-D digital lens leaves 2-D movies in the dark >> The Boston Globe

guardiantech — 2011-05-25T05:33:32+00:00

Wonder why sometimes films at multiplexes seem dark for no obvious reason? "A description of the problem comes from one of several Boston-area projectionists who spoke anonymously due to concerns about his job. We’ll call him Deep Focus. He explains that for 3-D showings a special lens is installed in front of a Sony digital projector that rapidly alternates the two polarized images needed for the 3-D effect to work.
“When you’re running a 2-D film, that polarization device has to be taken out of the image path. If they’re not doing that, it’s crazy, because you’ve got a big polarizer that absorbs 50% of the light.’’